April Fools: OP Park Temporarily Closed for Renovations

Forwarded from an email I got this morning:

"The Skateboard contest Scheduled for Saturday, April 3rd has been postponed. There is a lack of space and safety with the construction, contractors and equipment in and around the OP Skate Park. The park has been closed this week due to construction.

It should re-open Friday, 4/2/10 at noon and will be closed on easter Sunday.

Construction of the vert ramp and bowl, and deconstruction of all the other obstacles will begin on April 8th. The park will be closed from 4/8/10 and is scheduled to re-open on Friday, 7/23/10.

Please Call Anjie Shaw, Skatepark Manager at 904-***-**** with any questions.

Lois Palmer

Secretary/Treasurer

League of the OP State Park"

FYI - Pay attention to the date - There will NOT be a vert ramp or a bowl built at OP Park. Also, the phone number posted went to Skate Bomb, a rollerblade shop.

Park Update: OP Park (Orange Park)

Anjie and the Friends of OP have been hard at work getting new things going on at the OP Park. In addition to finishing up plans for additions to the park (including a nature trail), They are also working on a contest scheduled for April 3rd. We'll have more info on that as it comes along. Just to tide you over, here are some sneak peeks at a couple of the plans:

Here is your replacement for OP Park in Orange Park FL

I don't think the town planners in Orange Park are actually smoking crack, but after seeing this proposed redesign of the park, it would certainly seem that way. Why would they take an already great looking park that is built by skaters to last for years, and replace it with what looks like a rejected 'build your own park' from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2? Apparently the budget is the reason for this barren wasteland of a skatepark design. According to Jason Baldessari of Spohn Ranch (whose logo appears on the above image):

"The design you saw that was put together for Orange Park is a direct product of the available budget for the available area. From what we were told the existing ramps were going to be scraped but if the park is in good shape that is a whole different story."

So basically this means whomever contracted the designer of the new proposed park intends to scrap the thousands of dollars worth of safe, skateable, built-to-last skate ramps and obstacles currently at the park that you have all worked so hard to get, and replace it with what looks like what Optimus Prime might crap out after a small meal. Kind of a slap in the face, isn't it? I mean sure, the small collection of tiny obstacles might be decent in quality, but seriously - that picture looks like a collection the Lego blocks that got lost behind the couch.

I'm having a hard time coming up with contact information for the people responsible for this, but here is what I have-

Town Manager:
John W. Bowles
Phone: 278-3018 (Town Hall)

Orange Park Town Clerk:
opclerk@townoforangepark.com

Please contact these people and try to find out what is going on. Let them know what you think. Let ME know what you think. Thanks.


On a final note - Check out the Spohn Ranch website to see what the designer is capable of. They are by NO MEANS the bad guy here. Just look at what is possible, and think about how you would apply that to the park design. Check out what they built at UNF:

Crown Contest Tomorrow, June 27 at OP Park - UPDATED!

So you probably already knew about the contest going on at the OP if you read my previous rant about prefab. But what you may not have known, is that in addition to competing for prizes, you'll also be competing for a spot at this year's Red Bull Manny Mania in Miami, which includes a stay at a nearby Miami hotel. If that isn't incentive enough, I don't know what is! I hope all of you reading this make an effort to come out and show support for the OP Park, and show the town of Orange Park that there is no way that we will accept pre-fab ramps!

Click on the flyer to enlarge.

OP Park Update, Go Skateboarding Day Happenings

Word from Ms Anjie at the Orange Park skatepark indicates that there will be some substantial shreddage going on at the park on June 21st. She tells me that the park will be having some contests going on throughout the day, and that they will be open from daylight to sundown. You have to give some respect to someone that would come out to a skatepark before daybreak (6 A.M.) just to ensure kids had lots of time to skate. I don't think my clock even has a six A.M., I have never seen it. Anyway, more news is coming on Go Skate Day events, so keep checking the Calendar at the bottom of the page for more info to be added.

(The image on the right is me and my kid at the OP Park)